Pamela decides to shed her prim and proper ways for spandex and a mask to help fight the Malcontents. Now if only she weren’t so distracted by the sexy vampire fighting by her side . . .

A Forever Love by Pamela Palmer

Trapped in Vamp City, Lukas has been unable to return to the beauty who stole his heart. But now that she’s stumbled into his world, it will take every ounce of cunning he possesses to keep her alive.

First Dates Are Hell by Amanda Arista

Valiance’s first date in a hundred years is going great . . . until they’re attacked in the parking lot and quiet, unassuming Esme turns out to be way more than she appears.

Blood and Water by Kim Falconer

Beneath the waves of San Francisco Bay lives a vampire race that wants nothing to do with the “landers” except to feed on them. But when Stellan sets eyes on Angelina, everything changes.

V is for Vampwoman by Kerrelyn Sparks

For centuries, Lady Pamela has always chosen the safe path. After losing her vampire husband, she chose the quiet life of a vampire harem, and whenever danger came to call, Lady Pamela always knew the most comfortable place to hide out until the trouble was over. Now Pam has had enough of her cowardly lifestyle. She has decided to become “Vampwoman” and fight the malcontents along with her vampire brethren. When she shows up uninvited to help catch malcontents selling human slaves, the guys feel she will be more of a hindrance than help. Mikhail has been watching Lady Pamela for decades now and believes she is like a butterfly: absolutely beautiful but delicate and flighty. He doesn’t want anyone losing their head trying to protect the little princess from danger. Although she has no formal training, she is determined not to flee to safety this time. She’ll do anything to fight side by side with this Viking warrior.

THOUGHTS:
Being a big Kerrelyn Sparks’s fan this story is what drew me to this book, and it was easy to get into and enjoy this story. We’ve seen more of Pamela then we have of Mikhail, but they are both known characters. Sadly, I would have like to have seen more of them. We were just getting into the story and it was over.

A Forever Love by Pamela Palmer

Elizabeth Bryant thought she found a love to last a lifetime until two years ago when Lukas Olsson left her one night and just never came back. She thought they were so happy together and couldn’t convince herself that it was only one sided. So sometimes she pretends to herself that Lukas is a secret agent who had to leave on a mission. Why else would he just disappear without a word? Lukas is not the only one disappearing. Almost 20 people in the last few weeks have vanished into thin air. Lizzy wants to know what happened to them. At least she did until she too walked through the thinning barrier between Washington, D.C. and Washington, V.C. Vamp City might be set up like the Washington she knows, but with the abandoned buildings, it looks more like an abandoned Old West town. Certainly this scary world is the last place she would think to find Lukas–her Lukas–running around. As the magic that created Vamp City started to falter two years ago, some vampires like Lukas have became trapped there, no longer able to cross freely between the worlds. As food (human blood) in the Vamp City has grown scarce in the last two years, Lizzy is in mortal danger. Now Lukas is trying to find a way to get Elizabeth back to her world before the darker vampires who feed on pain as well as blood find his beautiful Lizzy.

THOUGHTS:
I have read other Pamela Palmer stories, but I am not familiar with this series. Regardless, I had no problem following with the story line and I enjoyed the characters. I like that we find that although Lukas has been trapped away from Lizzy, he loved her enough to have someone who could still cross the worlds looking out for her.

First Dates are From Hell by Amanda Arista

Valiance is a vampire and a bit of loner. After his Clave abandoned him, Valiance has been “adopted” by the local shifter Prima. Although Val is brave and works hard, Violet can’t seem to convince Valiance to get a life. In First Dates are from Hell, Valiance wants to take Violet’s advice and after decades alone, he decides to ask the pretty sales clerk he just met last week out for coffee. Esme is a bit of a loner too. It seems like no one ever notices her or remembers her so she is thrilled when the handsome, quiet man she helped last week comes back to the store asking for her. Everything was going so well until they were attacked in the parking lot by members of Valiance’s former Clave brothers. Val told her to run but she didn’t want to leave him. That is until they pulled out swords—SWORDS! Esme has no idea what is happening but she knows she can’t abandon this sweet, gentle man to vicious killers wielding age old weaponry. As far as first dates go, this one is topping her list as the worst, but if she doesn’t help Val they won’t get a chance at a second.

THOUGHTS:
This story sucked. You know what sucked about it – that it was short story!!!! I want a whole book about Valiance!! I read a lot of books, especially now, so I am immediately drawn to stories that bring something different. Here is a vampire who isn’t cocky and confident, who doesn’t always get the girl and he’s lonely. He meets a pretty girl and with some persuasion he decides to ask her out for coffee. She is just as quiet and shy as he is. There was so much potential here and it was wasted in short story. Big boo to that! A kick-ass vampire who is quiet and shy. We have the action and the sweet romance but it was just too brief. I would have loved to have read more on Valiance and Esme.

Blood and Water by Kim Falconer

In Blood and Water, Mar are mermen underwater and vampires on land. Humans are about to build a bridge in the Golden Gate Bay. A bridge that would destroy the Mar’s underwater world in the Bay. Stellan is on a mission to find out more about this Bridge before his father lets his fears destroy the humans. Fate lends a hand when he saves the beautiful Angelina from drowning. Angelina’s father is the main architect on the bridge project. When Stellan is distracted from his mission by tours of the City with the lovely Angelina, the punishment on San Francisco might just be of epic proportions.

THOUGHTS:
This story is on the only one not taking place in present day and we learn the purpose of that at the end of the story. Although the character and the story was good, this one didn’t grip me like the other stories did.

Favorite Scene:

From First Date are From Hell…

As she walked him back to the register, she felt it, that pressure in the back of her head. She wondered if all girls got this when they were being followed, like she could feel him looking at her, watching her messy ponytail bob back and forth.

And he just kept looking at her, and she just kept smiling like an idiot as she rang up the bed set. “Total is seventy-three ninety six.”

“That is a good sale.” He handed her the credit card again, and again, his hand trembled. This time she paid attention to the name, Val Lance. Very knightly.

She ran the card and handed it back to him. Their fingers brushed for a second, and his fingers were cold, like touching an ice cube. She snapped her hand back.

“Sorry about that,” he apologized as he put his card back in his wallet and his wallet in his coat pocket, not in the back pocket like most boys these days. “I really should start wearing gloves.”

“We have gloves in men’s wear.” She blushed when she realized that she hadn’t talked so much in ages. She was like a babbling brook under his intense gaze.

Esme pulled her hair behind her ear and slipped his purchases into the handled paper bag.

“I came to get your number.” The statement spilled out of his mouth like a gangly kid in a foot race.

Her jaw dropped as her brain contemplated the possible answers to “Why?”

His blond brow furrowed. “To ask you out for coffee?”

Excited good bumps trickled down her arm. “Why do you need my number to do that? Just do it now.”

He laughed that one short laugh and let out a long breath. “Would you do me the honor or having coffee with me?”

She looked up at him and into those tired blue eyes. They were old. Older than her abuelita’s, but she felt seen. For the first time in a long time, she felt like she was a normal girl. That should be something, right? Even if it was just a cup of coffee before he realized how completely boring she was, and he forgot her like everyone else did. “Yeah. Yes.”

He smiled, and something glowed within him. It was a wide smile that completely changed the dynamic of his features. It lit up his eyes and chased away the storm clouds.